


A Kiss a Day

by HiddenTreasures



Series: Kisses 'Verse [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-07 02:39:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 7,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11614191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenTreasures/pseuds/HiddenTreasures
Summary: A kiss a day keeps the Doctor very muchnotaway.





	1. The Christmas Invasion

**Author's Note:**

> This is all chocolatequeennk's fault, for encouraging me to write in a kiss during/after each episode. And thus, I present to you a new WIP. The goal will be to write a small scene of a new kiss between the Doctor and Rose every day.

The Doctor flexed his new fingers of his new hand, delighting in the warmth of Rose’s hand in his. It still fit as perfectly as it did before, and he never wanted to let go. She had her head on his shoulder, squinting up at the sky through the ash and to the stars beyond in the vague direction he had pointed to mere moments ago.

Warmth bubbled deep in his chest and he rubbed his thumb along the back of hers, feeling perfectly content, perfectly happy. He’d been scared—terrified—ever since he took the Vortex from her. He’d worried that regeneration would be too much for her, and she would leave, like all the others had left. When she turned to him with those wide, horrified eyes that looked at him without an ounce of recognition and asked for him to change back, he’d feared the worst.

All he’d been able to think about since he woke up was how to convince Rose to please stay with him.

“I’m heading back up.”

The Doctor startled and turned towards Jackie, who was rubbing at her arms in an attempt to keep out the December chill.

“Don’t you swan off without saying goodbye,” she threatened, pointing at Rose, and then at him.

“Nah,” he drawled, “the TARDIS is in no shape to fly right now. We’ll be parked for a few days, at least.”

Jackie nodded, mollified by his words, then turned on her heel and headed back inside the building.

“Will we really be here for a few days?”

The Doctor glanced down at Rose, and frowned when he saw the furrow in her brow.

“Yeah,” he said slowly, his mind working to figure out what she was thinking. “As I said, the TARDIS is in no shape to fly. Someone thought it would be a good idea to race her thought the Vortex.”

He dared not mention that the TARDIS was still pretty wounded from Rose looking into the Vortex, and he was relieved when Rose cracked a grin and didn’t mention anything about how she had come back to him. Hopefully that meant his memory trap was still working.

“Yeah, give you a few days to spend time with your mum,” he continued. “It’s been a few months for her. Again, someone thought it would be a good idea to return you at Christmastime.”

“Wonder who that someone is,” she teased, smiling at him with that tongue-touched smile he loved so much.

“No idea,” he said. “Some idiot, I presume.”

Rose giggled, and the sound set his hearts racing in his chest, and he felt his own daft grin spreading across his lips in return. Rose hugged his arm to her chest and rested her cheek on his shoulder. She was so close and felt so warm and smelled so good; the Doctor went half-dizzy with a rush of emotion he couldn’t quite pick apart yet. Fondness. Affection. Giddiness. Love.

That last one put a lump in his throat, and rather than try to inspect it further, he shoved it deep into his mind to deal with later.

Her fingers squeezed his as she nuzzled her cheek into his coat, and he couldn’t help but lean down and press the gentlest of kisses to her forehead. His ears rang as his lips met with the warm, soft skin of her forehead, and the sound of her quickly-drawn breath made his pulse race. Apparently this body was affectionate, and quite rash with doling out its affection. Or perhaps that was only with Rose…

He sniffed, and shoved that thought away, too, and he instead rested his cheek in her hair. He could sift through his maelstrom of emotions later. For now, he was content with stargazing under the ashfall with his best friend by his side.


	2. New Earth

The Doctor’s lips tingled and his entire body felt overheated as Rose’s mouth moved across his. Unexpected as it was, it was brilliant. It was so bloody brilliant. Her body was pressed tight against his and her hands were scraping deliciously through his hair and, oh gods, she was sucking so hard at his bottom lip.

A full-body shudder consumed him as he tried to clear his head enough to figure out what to do with his bloody hands, which were flailing uselessly at his sides. But before he could wrap his arms around her, pull her closer, she was gone.

In a daze, he followed Rose down a corridor. His hair was a mess, he was sure, and his lips felt kiss-swollen, and the taste of her was still lingering on his tongue. Blimey, that was a good kiss. That was the best kiss he had ever had. And it was with Rose!

As the Doctor worked on taming his hair and figuring out what was going on in the hospital, he idly wondered what had prompted Rose to come up and snog him like that. Not that he minded, obviously, but it was a tiny bit odd, seeing as they’d never actually discussed any forward progress in their relationship. Could he call it a relationship? Friendship, definitely. Friendships were relationships, weren’t they?

He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts by Rose talking about a hidden ward as she faced a wall. As he listened to her speak, the lingering giddy rush from their snog was slowly receding, leaving something cold in its wake.

Something was wrong. Rose wasn’t… Rose. She wasn’t acting herself. Something was very, very wrong with her.

Righteous anger began welling up inside of him. This was her body, he was sure of it—very, very sure of it—but it wasn’t  _her_. Someone was possessing her. Using her.

Oh, gods. Someone had used her body and made her snog him. He’d snogged Rose when she wasn’t Rose.

While he felt disappointed that Rose was, yet again, unaware of a kiss shared between the two of them, he felt anxious about how she might feel about him kissing her against her will. He hoped she wouldn’t be angry. He definitely hoped she wouldn’t be disgusted. Maybe she wouldn’t even remember it. He wasn’t sure how she was being possessed, or if she was aware of her surroundings from where she was somehow trapped inside her body.

And as he opened up the wall to the secret Intensive Care unit, the Doctor spared a moment to wonder if Rose might someday be amenable to more kissing between the two of them… Kissing when both parties were completely conscious, that is.


	3. Tooth and Claw

“Doctor, can I ask you something?”

The Doctor looked up from the console as he sent himself and Rose into the Vortex and away from 1879 Scotland.

“’Course,” he said, still feeling giddy from having met Queen Victoria, then been banished by Queen Victoria.

“What happened with Bad Wolf?”

The Doctor’s ears began to ring as his body seemed to become weightless.

“What? What do you mean? What?” he stammered.

Rose looked down at the piece of console she’d been holding onto as she said, “Last night, that werewolf bloke said I had something of the wolf about me. And that I burnt like the sun. What did he mean, Doctor?”

The Doctor’s throat worked as he tried to form words. He’d locked those memories away from Rose so she would be safe. He couldn’t just tell her all about Bad Wolf and risk her remembering and risk her mind burning up. But he couldn’t lie to her…

“Meet me in the library in ten minutes?” he asked weakly, needing a few minutes to process what she was asking and how best to answer her.

“Better make it twenty,” Rose said, grimacing. “I really need a shower.”

The Doctor nodded, and he left for his own bedroom as Rose left for hers. He shucked his coat and jacket, unknotted his tie, and slipped off his trainers before he made his way to the library to wait for Rose.

Twenty-three minutes later, when Rose joined him wearing her pajamas, the Doctor was still no closer to figuring out what to tell Rose than he was when she first asked.

But she was looking at him with such trust in her eyes, and he knew he couldn’t lie. So he told her everything. He told her all about how she had opened up the TARDIS and looked into Her heart, and took the entire Vortex into her head with the one goal of saving him.

“But all that power was killing you,” he said gently. “Nobody is meant to have the raw power of the Vortex inside of them. So I took it out of you. And… And I wiped your memories of it. To keep you safe.”

Rose gasped and pulled away from him, and the Doctor’s stomach clenched uncomfortably. She was angry he had hidden the memories. She was upset he’d had to telepathically go into her head to remove the Vortex and her memories.

“But you… you said… you…” Tears welled in her eyes as confusion welled up in him.

“Rose?”

“You said you were dying because you absorbed the energy of the Time Vortex,” Rose whispered, a tear falling down her cheek. “You absorbed it from me! I killed you! I… I…”

“Oh, no, Rose, no,” he said firmly, resting his hand on her thigh. He gave it a squeeze then moved his hand to take one of hers. “I chose to take the Vortex out of you. I couldn’t bear to watch you die when there was something I could do to save you. I will always do what I can to save your life, Rose. You know that.”

“But you died,” she moaned miserably.

The Doctor squeezed her fingers and brought them to his lips. He pressed a firm kiss to her knuckles and said, “Yes, I did. But I got better.”

Rose smiled weakly.

“I have lives to spare,” he continued softly, caressing his thumb across her fingers. “You don’t. So please don’t be upset, Rose. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Well. Heartsbeat.”

She sniffled and swiped at her eyes, but she was smiling.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for saving me. And thank you for being honest and telling me everything.”

The Doctor’s chest felt cold even as she pressed her lips gently to the backs of his fingers. Her lips were warm and soft and the skin of his hands were tingling. He very much wished he could feel her lips on something other than his fingers, but he didn’t deserve that. He didn’t even deserve the finger kisses she was giving him.

Unbidden, Jack popped to the forefront of his mind. He’d abandoned their friend in the future amidst Dalek dust and a decimated Earth.  _Rebuilding the Earth_ , he scoffed, and a lump lodged in his throat. He should tell her. He really ought to tell her. She deserved to know.

But then she was standing up and telling him she was knackered. She walked out of the library, leaving him alone with his guilty thoughts.


	4. The Stone Rose

His cheek felt wet, like a tear was trickling down his skin, but he didn’t remember crying. He didn’t remember much at the moment.

_Oh, wait._  Ancient Rome. Stone statues. A stone Rose.

Blimey, this was the first time he’d ever been a statue, and it was an experience he could’ve gone without.

He slowly blinked his eyes and saw Rose standing anxiously in front of him, her eyes welling with tears. He ached to pull her into his arms, to reassure her and himself that they were both okay. But his body was still mostly stone, and he was having trouble moving.

He flexed his fingers and wiggled his toes, willing his body to become flesh faster. Then finally,  _finally_ , he could lift his arms, and he hefted Rose tightly against him. Oh, he’d  _missed_  her! Those months he’d spent in the Renaissance learning to sculpt had been necessary, he knew, but he’d missed her desperately.

But now he was back, and she was back, too. His brilliant Rose saved him, as she always did. She undid what Ursus had done, and they were both alive and well and together.

Giddy with relief, the Doctor tilted his head down. Soft lips pressed against his in a kiss of gratitude and joy and unspeakable pleasure at being alive. He had to swallow a groan as his body seemed to be alight with heat as the kiss went on.

But Rose’s lips were motionless against his, and he realized his rash action. He pulled back immediately, even as his body begged for him to continue.

“Wotcha,” Rose said, smiling through her tears.

He couldn’t help but return her grin. “Hello.”

She licked at her lips and the Doctor felt a thrill when he saw her eyes had dropped to the vicinity of his mouth. Maybe, just maybe, she might be agreeable to another kiss?

Just before he could duck down and find out, she spoke again.

“I think you must be real,” she said with a tongue-touched grin. “My imagination’s not that good.”

The Doctor’s hearts stuttered in his chest. Her imagination… Had she imagined kissing him?  _My imagination’s not that good_. So if she even imagined kissing him, this kiss was better than anything she’d thought of?

The Doctor grinned, smugly proud of himself. Though he desperately wanted to pull Rose in for another kiss, he was aware that they weren’t alone.

After taking a moment to steel himself, the Doctor turned away from Rose. When they got back to the TARDIS, then he could entertain the notion of kissing Rose again. But for now, there were a few loose ends to tie up.


	5. School Reunion

“Hey.”

The Doctor glanced up at the soft call, and he sat up from where he was sprawled on Jackie’s sofa.

“Hey.”

Rose plopped down beside him and rested her head against his shoulder. He smiled as a sense of peacefulness overcame him, and he let out a contented sigh and he rested his cheek against her hair.

“What are you doing up?” he murmured, clenching his hands into fists as he fought the urge to rest his hand on her thigh. Her thigh that was left mostly bare from her sleep shorts.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she said. “Just thinking.”

“About?” he prompted.

“Lots of things,” she said. “These Krillitane things. Sarah Jane. You.”

“Me?” he spluttered, his mind racing out of control.  _What could she possibly think of me? Was she thinking nice things about me? Was she thinking of how close we’ve become these past few weeks? Was she thinking about how upset she was with me tonight outside that café?_

“Yeah,” she said, oblivious to his inner turmoil. “I just… you’re an alien. Sometimes I forget.”

The Doctor felt like something was squeezing his chest too tightly.

“Oh?” he said, clearing his throat when his voice went squeaky.

“It’s just… I forget, is all,” she said again. “You’re 900 years old. Obviously I’m not the first person you’ve traveled with. I’m not your first friend. I’m not…”

“You’re not what?” he asked when she fell silent.

“Special,” she blurted out, and the Doctor felt a surge of irritation at her. Didn’t she understand how special she was? How important she was? How utterly brilliant and fantastic she was? Especially to him?

“Of course you are,” he protested, reaching over to touch her in the hopes she would understand all he was trying to convey. His palm met with the soft, smooth, warm skin of her thigh, and he had to suppress a shiver. “You’re the most special woman in the universe.”

Rose’s cheeks flamed red and she bit her lip against a smile.

“Thanks,” she said shyly. Then before the Doctor could expand on just how special he thought she was, Rose said, “So… Krillitanes.”

The Doctor blinked at her, not wanting to change the topic of conversation, but admittedly, it was an important change in conversation.

“Yeah, Krillitanes,” he said.

“What’s all that about?” she asked. “What do you think they’re after?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “but whatever it is, it’s nothing good.”

“Do you have a plan?” she asked, snuggling closer to his side as her voice went soft and sleepy.

“Sort of,” he lied. “I’m gonna talk to them. See if I can figure out what they need the children for. Why they’ve dosed them with their own oil. Why they need to enhance their intelligence.”

“You’ll figure it out,” she said, and the confidence in her voice helped bolster him. “I know you will.”

He gave her a small smile and he rubbed his palms against his thighs as watched her stand up. But then she turned back around, and she leaned down until their faces were mere inches apart. The Doctor held his breath, barely daring to move, and then he felt her lips press against his cheek. It was soft and quick, more of a peck, but his skin seemed to tingle where her lips touched, and his blood pounded through his veins.

“Night Doctor,” she said quietly, her cheeks looking a little pink. “See you in the morning.”

He nodded, and tried to make his voice work, but his Adam’s apple bobbed uselessly as he watched her turn away from him and walk back into her room.


	6. The Girl in the Fireplace

“But… you’ll be trapped there!”

The Doctor sniffed and looked away. Of course Rose picked up on that little tidbit he’d left out.

“Nah,” he said breezily. “Well, yes, but only for a little while. If I’m remembering correctly, one of my past selves will be in the area around that time. I’ll just hitch a lift with myself. Be back in time for tea!”

But Rose was still frowning at him, and he felt his neck get hot under her scrutiny.

“What exactly does “around that time” mean?” she demanded. “How long?”

_Damn._  He’d hoped she wouldn’t catch that, or ask about it. It was already hard enough for him to think about being away from Rose for as long as he would be.

“Oh, a few years,” he said lightly. “It’ll go by like that!”

He snapped his fingers for emphasis, and flashed her a manic grin that slowly slipped from his face when he saw how utterly distraught she looked.

“You’re gonna be all alone for that long?” she whispered. “No, I’ll come with you!”

“No, no,” he said immediately, not wanting to see her age faster than she had to. “No, I need you to stay on this side to make sure none of the droids come back through. Besides, it’ll only be a few hours tops for you. I promise. I’ll be back by the end of the day.”

“But it’ll still be years for you!” she protested.

“Ah, that’s not so long in the grand scheme of things,” he said. “Nine hundred years old… what’s a few more years, eh?”

Rose’s face fell, then she launched herself into his arms. His breath left him in a gasp, and his arms lifted to wrap around her waist as she buried her face into his shoulder.

“I’ll wait for you,” she whispered fiercely. “No matter how long you are. I know how your driving is, after all.”

The Doctor smiled into her hair, and he didn’t even bother protesting.

“I’ll be back tonight,” he vowed, and he held her closer. Those months he’d spent in the Renaissance had been hard enough. How on Earth would he survive years—decades, maybe, depending on when exactly he crossed paths with his future self—without Rose?

“Good luck,” she murmured.

She stayed in his arms but turned her head, and suddenly he felt her lips press to the side of his neck. He hummed at the contact and tightened his grip around her as she continued to press little kisses to his neck. It felt so good, and he didn’t want her to stop. He wanted to turn his head and meet her lips for a proper kiss. A kiss goodbye. But he found he couldn’t quite bring himself to move yet, not when his face was buried in her hair and he was surrounded by the comforting scent of Rose.

Knowing he’d never leave if he didn’t let go soon, the Doctor sighed and forced his arms to loosen around her. As they pulled away, he allowed himself to brush his lips across the curve of her jaw.

She sucked in a sharp breath, and her watery eyes looked dark with desire, and the Doctor clenched his hands against the impulse to pull her tight against her and snog her.

“I’ll see you later,” he said hoarsely, reaching up to brush a piece of hair from her face.

He pressed his lips together into a tight smile then he turned away from her to find Arthur and save Madame de Pompadour.


	7. Interlude I

_Rose Rose Rose Rose Rose_.

The Doctor repeated the mantra as he waited impatiently for the fireplace to spin around, sending him back to the space ship. Back to Rose.

As soon as there was a big enough gap for his body to fit through, the Doctor took off at a run, calling her name.

“Doctor!”

He beamed when he saw her stand up from where she had been sitting with her back against the TARDIS. She was running towards him, and he opened his arms to catch her. He lifted her off her feet and spun her merrily, giggling in relief that he was home and that he hadn’t had to wait decades to see Rose again.

Her arms tightened around his neck as her feet kicked out behind her, and his hearts felt full to bursting with joy and love for Rose. Yes, love. The word no longer sent a thrill of anxiety through him, but instead it made him feel warm all over, from the tips of his ears to the bottoms of his feet.

He set Rose down on her feet but he didn’t relinquish his hold around her. Instead, he shifted his hands until they were cradling her cheeks. He saw her eyes flash with confusion, then recognition as his face dipped closer to hers.

“Oomph!”

The Doctor’s breath left him as she tightened her arms around his neck and yanked him towards her. Their lips met in a sloppy kiss. It was utterly uncoordinated. His nose was smooshed against her cheek and his lips weren’t centered against hers, but, oh, it felt so good.

His lips were buzzing with warmth and pleasure as he carefully readjusted the angle of the kiss until their lips were slotted together perfectly. Rose hummed against his lips as she sucked gently on his bottom lip, making her top lip slip between his.

He shuddered and held her closer as her fingers teased at his hair, and he wanted to know how it would feel if she raked her nails across his scalp.

Rose pulled away from the kiss, and the Doctor whimpered. He wasn’t done tasting her or committing the feel of her lips to memory.

“Wow,” she panted, and the Doctor forced his eyes open. A thrill shot through him when he saw her red, glistening, kiss-swollen lips and the way her pupils were blown open and her chest heaved for breath.

“Yeah,” he croaked, wanting to get her mouth back against his. But first… “Was that okay?”

Rose giggled. “Yeah. Couldn’t you tell?”

“Yes, well, you know,” he said, shrugging. “Consent is a very important aspect of a relationship.”

“Is this a relationship?” Rose asked, looking suddenly serious.

The Doctor sniffed and reached up to scrape his fingers through his hair.

“Well, I…  We…” The Doctor floundered for words. “Do you want it to be?”

“Do  _you_  want it to be?” she challenged.

The Doctor forced himself to look right at her as he nodded. He needed her to know that this would be a permanent step forward for him.

A beautiful grin slowly lit up her face.

“Yeah?” she asked.

He nodded again, and this time he forced his vocal chords to say, “Yeah. Yes, I want a relationship with you, Rose. A proper relationship.”

She laughed, and threw her arms around his neck and pressed another kiss to his lips, one that he gladly melted into.


	8. Rise of the Cybermen

“You’re staring.”

The Doctor wrenched his eyes away from where they had been trailing up and down the length of Rose’s legs as she slipped on her shoes. The skirt of her borrowed uniform was unbelievable short, and left very little to the imagination.

“Hmm?” he asked, blinking rapidly as his eyes slowly meandered up her thighs, to her hips, and across her chest before finally landing on her face.

Rose was smirking at him, a knowing glint glittering in her eyes.

“You’re staring,” she repeated, sauntering up to him and swaying her hips much more than necessary.

She stepped up in front of him, pressing her body tight against his. The Doctor shivered, and he was quite sure that shudder had nothing to do with the chilly midwinter air.

“I-I was just… That’s a very small dress, you see, and I was just making sure you were warm enough,” the Doctor stuttered.

“It’s okay, you know,” Rose said, her face turning serious. “You can look.”

“I was just… I can?” he squeaked, not quite believing his ears.

Rose laughed, and the sound sent warmth pooling low in his belly.

“Yeah, ‘course you can,” Rose said, grinning. She rested her hands on his chest and fiddled with his bowtie. “That’s one of the perks of being in a relationship, you know.”

“Oh, is it?” the Doctor asked, his voice pitching low as Rose continued to rub his chest. He tentatively dropped his hands until they were settled on her waist, and he was encouraged when Rose leaned even closer to him. “Are-are those the only perks?”

Rose pursed her lips as she screwed up her face in exaggerated thought.

“Well, I suppose there are others,” she mused, then she slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders until she was cupping the back of his neck. She rocked up onto her tiptoes until the tip of her nose brushed across his, and her breath puffed against his lips. “This, for one.”

Then she tilted her head to the side and slotted her lips against his. The Doctor hummed against her mouth as he melted into the kiss. He loved this development in their relationship. There was no greater pleasure than kissing Rose Tyler. Well. There was no greater pleasure he knew of.  _Yet_ , he added, hoping that someday he and Rose might be able to explore that greater pleasure together.

For now, the Doctor gripped her hips tightly as he leisurely explored Rose’s mouth, forgetting for a moment all about the parallel world and the parallel Pete Tyler.


	9. The Age of Steel

The Doctor buried his face deeper into Rose’s hair, letting the familiar scent of her soothe him. He wanted nothing more than to pick her up and carry her back to the TARDIS and pilot them straight home. The little power cell in his pocket was all charged up; they could leave this world to its fate, and they could all go home, safe and sound.

But Rose would be utterly furious with him.

Instead, the Doctor shoved aside his thoughts of everything that could possibly go wrong— _so_  many things could go wrong—in favor of losing himself in Rose’s arms.

 _She’ll be all right,_  he told himself firmly.  _She’s brilliant and resourceful. She’ll be just fine. She’ll be perfect. We’ll go home together at the night’s end._

With this desperate mantra playing on repeat in his head, the Doctor pulled back slightly and he reached up to cup her cheeks, which were pink from the bitter February air. He caressed his thumbs across her cheekbones as he looked into her eyes, begging for her to keep herself safe and come home to him.

“Good luck,” he murmured, then he leaned down and touched his lips to hers.

She hummed against his lips, and her hands wound around the back of his neck, scraping through his hair softly, soothingly.

He released her lips then caught them again and again, never wanting to let her go. Her lips were soft and warming up as he kissed her longer, and they moved so perfectly against his. The feeling of her mouth against his was still new, but getting so familiar, and he loved it so much. He could happily spend hours kissing and being kissed by Rose.

Finally, he pressed his lips to hers in a hard kiss. This would not be their last kiss. He refused to let it be their last kiss. Rose would come back to him in just a few hours, and he would kiss her again and again, for the rest of their lives.

The Doctor pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. He nuzzled the tip of his cold nose against hers, and let their breaths collide in white, puffy clouds between them.

“Good luck,” he whispered again, and he forced himself to let go of her and take a step back. “Stay safe.”


	10. The Idiot's Lantern

Her skin was soft beneath his lips. Her cheeks, her forehead, her eyebrows, her eyelids, her nose, her upper lip, her lower lip, her chin. It was all so soft, and perfect, and  _there_.

The Doctor opened his eyes on the next circuit around her face, because with his eyes shut, he could recall too vividly the image of a faceless Rose standing unaware in front of him. He shivered. He had never felt such fear or such rage for Rose as he had that day.

Again and again, his lips traced her face, desperately trying to convince himself that she was perfectly fine.

Her hands were rubbing soft circles into his lower back as they lay in his bed together, both too keyed up for sleep. But as he made the fourth—or was it the fifth?—circuit around her face, Rose brought her hands up to his cheeks and halted his movements.

He’d been at her lips, and she leaned up to deepen the feather-light touch his lips currently had against hers. The Doctor sighed, his eyes fluttering shut in pleasure, but he yanked them open to instead continue staring at her face.

“You know,” she murmured against his mouth, “it’s a little unnerving to be watched when I’m kissing you.”

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly, pulling back. “I’m just…”

_Scared._  He didn’t say the word, but Rose understood. She always understood. Her face softened and she gave him a gentle smile.

“I’m all right, Doctor,” she whispered, reaching up to cradle his cheeks. “I’m fine. You saved me.”

The Doctor nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat that wanted to contradict her and say what if he hadn’t saved her.

But Rose was always reminding him to not dwell in the ‘what-ifs’, and so he remained silent, thanking the universe that he’d been able to save her and all of the other people whose faces had been stolen.

Rose then lifted herself up onto her elbow, and she placed her hand on his chest and pushed. Confused, the Doctor followed her directive and rested back against his pillows, and he let out a squeak when Rose straddled his hips.

_This was new. Brilliant, but new._

She leaned down, and he hummed, puckering his lips slightly as he awaited the kiss. The kiss that never came. Instead, Rose’s lips brushed against his cheek, then down his jaw, across his chin, and up the other cheek. She kissed her way across the bridge of his nose, then up to his forehead, then across his temples.

The Doctor stifled a moan as his telepathy was awoken by the press of her skin to his temples, and he ached to reach out and connect with her. He clenched his hands into fists and managed to stifle the urge and instead take pleasure in her gentle touch. He let his eyes flutter shut as happiness buzzed through him, and he gasped in surprise when her lips finally covered his.

He lifted his arms and wrapped them around her waist to hold her tight as she caught and released his lips. She played with his bottom lip, licking at it and nibbling on it, then she gave the same attention to his top lip. Her hands were buried in his hair, scraping at his scalp, and his own had dropped to her bum. The Doctor hummed as the heat low in his gut steadily flamed hotter and more insistent the longer they kissed, until he realized how visibly aroused he had become.

“Wait, Rose,” he murmured when he felt her beginning to grind against his growing erection.

She popped her lips away from his, looking dazed with pleasure. It was a beautiful look on her, and his insides clenched with desire.

“What? What’s wrong?” she asked, breathing heavily.

“I’m… er… I’m…”

He sniffed and raked a hand through his hair.

“Do you want to stop?” she asked quietly.

The Doctor looked up at her helplessly. No, he didn’t want to stop. He very much wanted to keep going. But what they had together was still so new, he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he and Rose were a proper romantic couple.

“For tonight,” he finally whispered. “If that’s okay?”

Rose smiled reassuringly at him, and she lifted herself off of his lap and instead lay down beside him and cuddled into his chest. The Doctor wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held her close, loving the feeling of Rose in his arms.

“Will you eventually want more?” Rose asked, tracing her fingertips across his chest.

The Doctor nodded, then realizing she couldn’t see him, croaked out, “Yes. I do want more with you. I want everything with you.”

He felt Rose’s lips quirk into a smile as she pressed a kiss to his chest.

“I want everything with you, too, Doctor,” she whispered, giving his waist a quick squeeze.

The Doctor’s temples pulsed with desire, still wound up from Rose’s innocent kisses. When she meant ‘everything’, he doubted she meant this—telepathic contact between the two of them.

But as the Doctor draped the sheets over himself and Rose, he couldn’t help the yearning that swelled up inside of him. The yearning to know Rose in every way, body, mind, and soul, and to let her know him in such an intimate way, too.


	11. The Impossible Planet

“I’ve trapped you here,” the Doctor lamented as his hearts raced with anxiety over their current predicament.

“No, don’t worry about me,” Rose said, and the Doctor almost smiled. 

 _My selfless Rose_.

Just before he could tell her that he would always worry about her, the ground beneath them began to rumble and shake. Rose sucked in a sharp breath and looked around the room they were in.

“Okay,” she said shakily, “we’re on a planet that shouldn’t exist, under a black hole and no way out.”

The Doctor wanted to cringe, having their bleak outlook stated so bluntly. He heard the tremor in Rose’s voice, belying her fear.

“Yeah, I’ve changed my mind,” she said, glancing over at him. Her bottom lip wobbled as she continued. “Start worrying about me.”

The Doctor immediately opened his arms for her, and he pulled her in for a tight hug. She leaned against him, tucking her face into his collarbone, and he relished the feel of her breathing against him. Her shoulders rose and fell in gentle swells, and her breath tickled his neck as her hair tickled his cheek as he nuzzled close.

He let her presence soothe him, pulling him out of his utter despair. He would find a way to get them home. Somehow. He’d demand to go down the drill shaft and he would look for the TARDIS. He refused to trap Rose on this planet, or on whatever planet these people had launched from. He refused.

The Doctor leaned down and pressed his lips to the top of Rose’s head. The smell of her shampoo surrounded him, and he breathed her in more deeply.

Sighing, he pressed absent kisses to her hair as he slowly swayed them from side to side. But he jumped when a door banged open.

“If you come with me, I can show you where you can sleep. There’s only one room, I’m afraid, but—” Danny stopped short when he saw them wrapped in such an intimate embrace. The Doctor pressed a lingering kiss to Rose’s hair before he released her and moved to follow Danny.

“That’s all right,” he said, forcing a grin.

And at the same time, Rose slotted her fingers through his and gave them a squeeze as she turned to Danny and said, “We can share.”


	12. The Satan Pit

The Doctor finally felt like he could breathe again when he saw Rose step through the doors of the TARDIS. Sure, he’d heard her over the radio call with the rocket, but anxiety still festered inside of him until he could see her again, and hold her again. And speaking of…

His breath whooshed out of him, and he heard Rose’s exhale as their bodies collided in a fierce hug. Her swept her up off her feet as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he buried his nose into her hair, breathing her in. She smelled like dust, oil, and sweat, but she still smelled like his Rose, and he couldn’t help but grin. They were both alive and safe and they’d made it off that impossible planet. They were home.

Her lips pressed against the side of his neck in many soft, frantic kisses. He shivered at the touch, and a yearning swelled up inside him for her lips to be somewhere other than his neck.

The Doctor leaned down to set her on her feet for leverage before he wrapped his arms around her shoulders to crash their mouths together. She gasped against his lips, but then her fingers were in his hair, tugging and pulling and making him wish he were out of that bulky space suit so he could better feel her body pressed against his.

Rose fisted her fingers in his hair as she rocked up onto her tiptoes to deepen the kiss further than he’d thought possible. He groaned as she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth before releasing it so her tongue could dart into his mouth and trace against his.

A full-body shudder overcame him as her tongue danced in his mouth, seemingly finding every sensitive place and tickling against it. She continued her slow torture by returning her attentions to his bottom lip to scrape her teeth against it.

His body felt so hot, even as he continued to shiver at the pleasure of their kiss. And as much as the Doctor wanted to continue—he really, really did—he didn’t want it to happen like this. They were quickly careening into intimacy deeper than they’d ever dabbled in, and the Doctor was so ready, but he didn’t want it to happen like this.

“Wait, love,” he murmured against her lips, slowly easing them out of their snog.

Rose sucked in a sharp breath, but she let go of him at once, and the Doctor tried not to whimper at the loss of her body wrapped around his. He bit his lip when he saw Rose duck her head to hide the frustration on her face

“I need to get out of this suit,” the Doctor whispered, reaching out to brush his fingers across her arm. As though to prove his impatience to get out of his spacesuit, the Doctor couldn’t feel Rose’s arm through the thick gloves he was still wearing. “And we should probably call the rocket to say goodbye. And then… well… I was wondering if… would you like to go to bed with me?”

Rose’s head snapped up to look at him. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment before she said, “To sleep?”

The Doctor sniffed against his awkwardness and embarrassment then said, “If you want. Or… or we could continue what we were just doing. And… and maybe see where it takes us?”

Rose blinked, then smiled shyly. “Are you ready for that?”

The Doctor nodded; the ache low in his gut was begging for him to tug Rose tightly against him and continue their snogging session right there against the console. But Rose deserved better than shag against the console for their first time together. And he wanted something better than that, too.

“Yeah,” he answered, willing his voice to stay steady. “Yeah, I am.”


	13. Interlude II

After ending the call with the rocket, the Doctor looked down at Rose, anticipation boiling low in his belly. But she was looking up at him with an expression that was half-nervous, half-apologetic.

Before his disappointment could swell through him, Rose said, “I really want to go to bed with you Doctor, but I am in desperate need of a shower. Crawling around maintenance tunnels isn’t the cleanest means of travel.”

The Doctor furrowed his brows.  _Maintenance tunnels?_  He made a note to ask her about her time on the base while he was on the planet below.

“Quite right,” he said, grinning and clapping his hands in front of him. “I could do with a shower, too. I’ve got awful helmet hair.”

Rose giggled, and she leaned towards him to peck a kiss to his cheek.

“I’ll meet you in your room, yeah?” she said as she began to walk backwards towards the corridor that would lead to her bedroom.

“Absolutely,” he said, rocking slightly on the balls of his feet.

He watched Rose retreat to her room, then he blew out a heavy breath and raked his hands through his hair. Though he was ready to make love to Rose, that didn’t mean he wasn’t slightly nervous about it.

He retreated to his own bedroom and immediately stripped out of his suit and went into the bathroom to take a shower. He cleaned himself thoroughly, wanting to make the best impression for Rose for their first time together. Not wanting to be too presumptuous, he donned a soft pair of pajama bottoms and a shirt then towel-dried his hair vigorously, hoping Rose would still find his hair sexy despite it being soft and floofy rather than sticky-uppy.

He intended on tidying his bedroom next, but when he exited the en suite, he squeaked in surprise when he saw Rose was already in his room and in his bed. She wasn’t lounging across it in her underwear, like most of his fantasies had involved, but rather she was curled up on the mattress with her damp hair curling around her face, and she was fast asleep.

He smiled softly, and any thoughts of making love with Rose that night vanished. He settled himself into bed beside her, as they’d done every other night, and he tugged the sheets up to cover them both.

His movements disturbed her, and she moaned and rolled onto her back and blinked opened her eyes.

“Oh, sorry,” she said through a yawn. “I must’ve fallen asleep.”

“It’s all right,” he said. “You’re exhausted. I know you hardly slept last night. You need the rest.”

“M’kay,” she mumbled, letting her eyes flutter shut again.

“Rose?” he asked. “Can we have a cuddle?”

She nodded and she scooted closer to him as he opened his arms for her. She hummed as she nuzzled into his chest, and he shivered when he felt her press kisses against his collarbone.

“Goodnight, Rose,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around her. Holding her like this eased away the lingering anxieties from the day. He’d thought he’d lost her, both when he heard the rocket leaving the planet, then when he destroyed the gravity funnel keeping the planet and the rocket safe from the black hole. While he knew they were both home, safe and sound, he couldn’t help but think about how close he had come to losing everything he loved.

“Night, Doctor,” she murmured, letting out a contented sigh. “Love you.”

The Doctor felt his breath hitch, then warmth flooded through him, making him feel giddy and weightless. Rose loved him! She _loved_ him! Really, properly loved him!

Well, he already knew she loved him. It was so obvious in everything she did with him. But he hadn’t realized how wonderful it would feel to actually hear those words.

He suddenly needed her to hear those words too.

“Oh, Rose,” he said through the lump in his throat. “I love you, too.”

But Rose let out a soft snore; she was already asleep.


End file.
